The Latest on Social Development Commission’s Woes

The Social Development Commission’s former main office at 1730 W. North Ave. is now listed for sale. (Wisconsin Watch file photo)

The Social Development Commission has another month to prepare for a hearing in a lawsuit from information technology firm TriShulla LLC.

The Middleton-based firm claimed in court documents that SDC owes about $472,000 in outstanding payments for various services it was contracted to provide, including creating a software platform and mobile app.

This case is one of a handful of lawsuits filed against SDC after the anti-poverty agency abruptly stopped services in 2024.

At a hearing for partial summary judgment on April 20, William Morgan, the attorney representing TriShulla, relayed a request from Jorge Franco, SDC’s interim CEO and chair of the board, who was not in court.

Morgan said Franco contacted him early that morning to request the hearing be delayed so he could have an opportunity to present a proposal from TriShulla to the SDC board.

SDC’s board meeting on April 16 was canceled due to unavoidable board member conflicts, according to Franco. The board’s next meeting is scheduled for May 21.

“I told him that I was not opposed to that request if the court would want to entertain it,” Morgan said.

Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Timothy Witkowiak agreed to reschedule the hearing for 2 p.m. June 1.

“It’s always helpful to have collaborative discussions,” Franco said. “It is SDC’s intention to resolve any and all cases it has.”

Building for sale

Forward Community Investments Inc. is selling SDC’s former main office and warehouse properties on North Avenue through Ogden & Company Inc., according to Kirby Toon, director of capital strategy for Forward Community Investments.

SDC’s former headquarters at 1730 W. North Ave. is listed on Ogden & Company’s website for $2.1 million and the warehouse and parking lot at 1810-1824 W. North Ave. is listed for $511,800.

SD Properties Inc., SDC’s tax-exempt property corporation, owned the properties until a judge ruled it had defaulted on mortgage payments to Forward Community Investments and scheduled the properties for auction.

Forward Community Investments repossessed the properties at a sheriff’s sale in January, which was confirmed at a March hearing.

Wage claims settlement offered

In the wage claims lawsuit filed against SDC, the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development received a settlement offer from SDC and requested additional time to review the documentation, according to a status conference held March 26.

The next conference is scheduled at 10 a.m. June 30.

The Wisconsin Department of Justice filed a lawsuit on behalf of the state’s Department of Workforce Development which claims SDC owes nearly $360,000 in back wages and benefits to former employees.

Other lawsuit pending

A contract lawsuit for unpaid rent was filed in February by 20 Volga 9004 Lincoln LLC against SDC, Milwaukee County and the City of Milwaukee. SDC rented an office in West Allis from the company.

In defense documents filed in March, the Milwaukee County Office of Corporation Counsel argued the county is a separate legal entity from SDC, had no knowledge of and was not part of the lease and asked for the complaint to be dismissed. 

SDC has not yet responded to the lawsuit.

Meredith Melland is the neighborhoods reporter for the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and a corps member of Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. Report for America plays no role in editorial decisions in the NNS newsroom.

This article first appeared on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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